Right Knack: Small Businessman Of The Year

Nn Remodeler Puts Emphasis On Price, Quality Employees

NEWPORT NEWS — Nine years ago, Tony D. Collins, armed with an idea, his drafting skills and a knack for sales, started Custom Design Works, a remodeling and building company in Newport News.

This year, after surviving six years of losses and an ill-fated foray into real estate development, Collins has achieved business success and is the 1993 Small Businessman of the Year, chosen by the Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce.

His 12-employee company is profitable and growing: It racked up $1.4 million in revenue last year, and is heading toward $3 million in sales this year, Collins said.

The chamber gives the award every year to a local company that demonstrates growth, staying power, innovation, outstanding customer service and community service, said Diane Hageman, vice president for small business and military affairs at the chamber.

Collins, a Hampton native, studied drafting at the Newport News Shipbuilding Apprentice School, but left the shipyard during a 1977 strike. He took a job putting "beer in cans and bottles," working the midnight shift at the Anheuser-Busch brewery in James City County.

Collins, who said he needs just four hours of sleep a night, started augmenting his income by doing design work during the day. He began advertising his services in the newspaper and in brochures.

"The design process gave me the opportunity to sit down with people who had dreams and ideas," he said. "Being somewhat familiar with construction, I was able to help people stay within a budget."

Through the eyes of his clients, Collins began to see some of the problems that plague general contractors - and their customers. "One of the worst things you hear about contracting is that you can't rely on a contractor," Collins said.

Unwilling to take on the responsibility of hiring full-time employees, general contractors often hire subcontractors they don't know, Collins said. That leads too often to jobs that are late, over-budget and sloppy, he said.

"I felt it was time to take a chance," Collins said. "I knew I had to offer something unique: true customer service and an organization. I knew I had to hire full-time employees."

He took a yearlong leave of absence from the brewery and used his savings to start Custom Design Works. "I did it with the security that I could come back if I failed," he said.

He hired his first two employees, and committed to paying them for 40 hours a week. He was the front man and a worker, putting on a tie to meet with clients and then returning to the office to draft designs and type up proposals. Sometimes he would even head to a job site to wield a hammer.

Collins decided to get his clients involved in the design process from the beginning of each project. He offered drawings that showed the exteriors, not just the floor plans of additions and remodeling projects. He provided day-by-day schedules of work, which educated homeowners and let them know when they had to make decisions on fixtures or colors.

Business was good - maybe too good, said Collins. "I started growing too quickly," he said.

Thinking big, he got involved in real estate development and building houses on speculation. But by 1989, the company had hit hard times.

To keep the company afloat, Collins had to moonlight at night and on weekends doing maintenance work for apartment complexes.

He went to each of his employees with the dire news that the company was in danger of folding. He then introduced a new incentive program for employees that was based not on profits - which the company didn't have -but on the number of new contracts signed.

Slowly the company turned itself around, for which Collins credits his employees. And, he said, "I don't do spec building any more."

The secret of success is having employees who are also salespeople for the company, said Collins. Paid vacations and holidays and an incentive plan give employees a vested interest in the company, he said.

This year, he opened a showroom at his offices on J. Clyde Morris Boulevard and also became a dealer for carpet, cabinets, tile and counter tops. Being a dealer eliminates the middle man - and the mark-up.

"The market is very competitive," Collins said. By being a dealer, "I can keep prices in line without cutting quality."

He hopes to expand the showroom into a neighboring storefront soon.

"The idea is not to be the biggest," Collins said. "But I do want to be known as one of the best service contractors in the area."